How we go in Canada…

How we go in Canada…

Statistics Canada has a list of 51 leading causes of death, including ‘other’ as the 51st category. There are many exit doors, but for now, only one way to enter…and of course for now, we all have to exit at some point or other. The chances of going from cancer, heart disease, stroke or Alzheimer’s or even diabetes dramatically increases with age. Thus one could be forgiven for lumping ‘old age’ as a leading cause – given that there has to be some ’cause’. The point of the graph is just to put a pictorial perspective on suicide as the 7th leading cause of death for men in Canada.

Men and women leave through essentially the same doors, but at slightly different numbers. The graph below shows data from the most recent year, 2011, which was released at the end of January 2014.

The top ten causes of death in Canada for men are depicted in the graph from left to right and it compares that cause with women.

The way to interpret the graph: Cancer is the leading cause of death for men and women in Canada, but slightly more men die from it than women, the first bar represents a 1.1:1 ratio, which means that 10% more men die from it than women.

The second leading cause of death for men and women is heart disease, but again 10% more men than women die from heart disease. In the accidental death category, workplace etc. 40% (1.4:1) more men die from accidental death than women. Accordingly, the seventh leading cause of death for men in Canada is disturbingly – intentional death (aka suicide), and far more men than women exit that way at almost 3:1.Influenza is the 8th leading cause of death and more men than women die from it. Alzheimer’s disease is the 9th leading cause of death for men and the 6th leading cause for women, hence more women than men die from it per year as depicted in the graph. Cirrhosis or other liver disease is the tenth leading cause of death for men in Canada.